The CV of Suresh Raina

Brut India

From being bullied in school to scoring centuries on the pitch... Suresh Raina speaks about his cricketing life and its highs and lows.

Transcript

00:00Who is your favourite player, Sachin or Rahul?

00:04You probably said, who is your favourite player, Sachin or Rahul?

00:07I said, Rahul bhai.

00:10Then Sachin said, okay, so you don't like me.

00:13When I saw the Neeraj Chopra medal, I was remembering when we won the World Cup in 2011.

00:17What is your favourite sport?

00:26Me and my friend used to bunk classes and watch Sachin matches.

00:31What is your experience of Lucknow Sports College?

00:35Lucknow Sports College, I went to in 1998.

00:38Guru Govind Singh Sports College, Lucknow.

00:40Initially, it was very difficult.

00:42I couldn't deal with ragging and bullying and everything.

00:44It was tough as a youngster.

00:46But I took it very positively.

00:49I thought, this is the time to express ourselves.

00:52When you are very young, you get to know a lot of obstacles in your life.

00:56I'm glad I managed to overcome all those.

00:59How did you become a part of Air India?

01:03I was lucky to be part of Air India's system.

01:06I think they gave me a scholarship.

01:07I used to get 10,000 bucks monthly.

01:09What club did you play for?

01:12I used to represent one more club in Calcutta called Momna Sporting Club.

01:16We used to play a lot of matches, under-16, under-15.

01:19I think one team went to Bangalore.

01:21I was watching him before he was going to play for India.

01:24I think he was practising a lot in the bowling machine.

01:27He was very disciplined, very calm.

01:29He spoke to us for 10-15 seconds.

01:31It was a dream come true to meet a person like him.

01:34What did you say when a newcomer came to the team?

01:38When a newcomer came to the team, you need to speak for 2 minutes or something.

01:42I said, hi, I'm Suresh Raina, coming from UP.

01:45And then UP Babas said, who is your favourite player, Sachin or Rahul?

01:49I said, Rahul bhai.

01:52Then Sachin said, okay, so you don't like me.

01:55I said, no, no, bhaji, you're my favourite player also.

01:57When did you start playing football?

02:00I was nervous when I represented my first game.

02:03I played in Sri Lanka.

02:04I couldn't sleep the whole night.

02:05How did you prepare for the World Cup?

02:09I think 2007 was very crucial because I missed the World Cup in West Indies.

02:13And I was doing really, really well.

02:15And I didn't know what happened to my knee.

02:16I think I was very, very young.

02:18I couldn't control my emotion.

02:20I got my house and I was on loan or something.

02:23But my father always told me, you need to believe in yourself.

02:26More than playing a game, you need to stand on your feet and work hard.

02:29I think that was the lesson I learned.

02:31How did you prepare for the World Cup?

02:35Emotion was full on and everyone was hugging each other.

02:38Everyone was crying in the dressing room.

02:40My first World Cup was at the age of 23 or 24.

02:43And we won it for the first time in home soil.

02:46I think you can't ask for more.

02:47This was the last game for us.

02:50We just need to give it whatever we have in our heart.

02:53Make sure when we come back from the ground to the dressing room, we come back with the cup.

02:57When I saw the Neeraj Chopra medal, I was remembering when we won the World Cup in 2011.

03:01How did you prepare for the World Cup?

03:05I had to go to England.

03:07I told Sachin, I need to practice. Can you give me one or two weeks?

03:11He said, come to Mumbai, we'll practice together.

03:14Every time he was telling me, everything is there, you just need to believe in yourself.

03:17I think he must have said so many times.

03:19And every time he said, you just need to believe.

03:22Then I tattooed the word belief here.

03:29When you play team sports, you bring that glory to the nation.

03:32You want to show them what India is all about in sports.

03:35I knew I have to give everything I have to the Indian team or on the ground.

03:39So I did believe in myself.

03:41When I came back from the ground, I never regret anything because I always played the game with good energy.

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